112 tall seahorse tank
- Thread starter sbanks78
- Start date
billybobed
New member
Looks good to me. Too small of a tank and its to the point of being mean to the horses (unless going dwarfs), too big of a tank and it gets difficult to ensure they're getting fed. Filtration wise, I've heard/read both sides as to whether a protein skimmer is needed or not. Personally, I use one with my horses (and they enjoy using the plastic air pipes to hitch on), it's a backpack style, along with a standard material/carbon filter. Need to make sure though that they have plenty of area in the tank that is calm, without heavy water flow from filtration. They have a hard time eating/perching otherwise. That said, they DO enjoy playing in the heavier flow areas at time, fun to watch. Also make sure you don't go too heavy on the heater with the horses, above ~75 and it's asking for parasite trouble with them.
The recommended temperatures of 68° to 74° are to lessen the chances of infestations of bacteria like vibrio that seahorses are VERY prone to succumbing to, even though the same seahorses in natural habitat might be living at 80° where the bacteria is not contained as in our tanks.
General recommendations for standard seahorses would be 30g for the first pair and 15g for each pair after that.
Water quality is important, and seahorses leave a lot of the food behind so tank husbandry is therefore a priority.
I have some thoughts about seahorse keeping that I have placed on my website and can give you at least my experiences.
MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING
My experiences raising H. Reidi fry can be found on the "org"
If you don't want to raise fry, you could buy all male or all female horses.
General recommendations for standard seahorses would be 30g for the first pair and 15g for each pair after that.
Water quality is important, and seahorses leave a lot of the food behind so tank husbandry is therefore a priority.
I have some thoughts about seahorse keeping that I have placed on my website and can give you at least my experiences.
MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING
My experiences raising H. Reidi fry can be found on the "org"
If you don't want to raise fry, you could buy all male or all female horses.
fish addict :D
New member
Hey I'm by no means an expert, but I've been doing some research because I want to set up a seahorse tank too. So one thing I read quite a bit is that it's very beneficial to have a feeding station. Basically it's just a certain container that you always put the food in so that it doesn't get spread around the tank, decompose, and cause water quality issues. You can use a petri dish, an upside down shell, a leather coral, some grape caulerpa algae, basically anything the food doesn't wash out of. Not sure how much you know about this, or if you were planning on it already, but this is a really good article about them:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/seahorse_feeders/seahorse_feeders.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/seahorse_feeders/seahorse_feeders.htm
fish addict thanks for the valuable info on the feeding stations did no about this. there is so much to know and under stand about these unique creatures . i think im going to use a sump/fuge on this tank . also going to add protein skimmer and cal reactor . any thoughts on this. Anyone
steelcaveman
New member
Unless you are planning on having lots of stony corals - a calc reactor may not be the way to go for a seahorse tank. Regarding flow- the captive bred ones like to ride the current of the power heads. I turn the powerheads off at night so they can get a good night sleep. I tried the feeding station - but mine only eat if the mysis is flying in the current. I've heard the wild caught SH are very different. Some are picky eaters - so you'll have to try what works. My personal favorites are the reidi- lots of personality. I've also heard good things about Erectus(sp) - and hope to try one soon. I think that tank would be awesome for seahorses. It already has the blue background!
